We’ve been home a week, laundry is done and pretty much everything is put up until the next trip. I’ve caught up on mail and bills and the crazy amount of dust that settled in the house while we were gone (thanks to help from Dave, too!). I got Mom caught up with updates on her computer and answered all the additional questions she had about our trip from reading my blog. I finished the posts for the last couple of days of the trip shortly after we got back, so now it’s time for the final recap!

Travel To and From IAH

I was glad that I’d pre-booked our transportation between home and Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) both ways. We used Majestic Limo and Transportation Services in Houston and I would definitely book them again. The vehicles were immaculate, and the drivers were early (therefore on time!) and friendly. It made both the early morning departure and our arrival back home after a long travel day much less stressful.

Travel To Manhattan Hotel From EWR

Pre-booking our Newark airport pick-up for the four of us with Carmel (highly recommended on various travel sites) for the transfer to our Manhattan hotel was also a win. Once we had our bags (except for Paula’s which was delayed and delivered to the hotel later), we called the dispatch number I’d been given for Carmel, and they gave us our driver info and told us at which outside pickup location he’d arrive. He called me a couple of minutes later to confirm, ask what we were wearing, and told us how to identify him as well. Our driver was great and got us safely to our hotel. There’s absolutely no way I’d ever drive in the NYC area!! Our experiences in meeting new people on this trip with interesting life stories also started with him. He was retired military and worked this job as a part-time retirement gig with everything he earned from it going to a foundation he and his wife supported.

Travel to Reykjavik Hotel from Port

We opted to just take potluck on cabs to our respective hotels from the port in Reykjavik. This worked out well as Keith and Paula were able to go on to their hotel, get checked-in, and start scouting the area, while I was on the hunt for my wandering luggage (see Note 21) and Dave patiently waited for that outcome! I was glad we hadn’t booked a tour directly from the port for the day and had already planned to just wander Reykjavik at our leisure.

On the Ship

Stateroom

As I wrote in Note 6, we booked a PS (Penthouse Suite) stateroom because we had to use up all our voucher credit from our cancelled 2020 cruises before boarding (we couldn’t use any leftover for spa services, for example). At 405 square feet versus the 338 square feet in the PV (Penthouse Veranda) which we had on our Viking Homelands cruise in 2019, I felt like the PS was overkill for us space-wise. There are so many places to sit and relax all around the ship that you don’t need that much extra space in your stateroom. The storage available was way more than we needed for a 15-day cruise even with bulky clothing. As we packed to leave and I started checking all the drawers, I found 3 drawers that we’d never utilized at all! The main perks of having a PS stateroom that we utilized were access to the room as soon as we boarded at 11am, using the laundry service (twice) and the ability to pre-book 3 reservations at each of Manfredi’s and Chef’s Table. However, PVs can pre-book 2 reservations at each specialty restaurant and most of the time you can get more reservations once on board. Self-service launderettes are available and free, or you can still pay per item for the Viking staff to launder your clothes. So, for us, it would be difficult to justify the price difference between a PS and PV for booking in the future. It was nice to experience the PS, but it didn’t spoil us for anything else!

Grade: A

Viking Food and Beverages

I think I covered our fantastic food experiences thoroughly in the daily posts, including the galley tour. We were pleased with the quality and preparation of the food at all venues.

I didn’t discuss beverages too much, if at all previously. We had the SSP (Silver Spirits Package) – remember we had a voucher to use up pre-board? Will we get it again? I don’t know if we will get it again on Ocean cruises. Viking individual drink prices are very reasonable – including the SSP pricing (although both people in a stateroom must have it) – plus they serve a basic choice of beer/wine/soda/coffee/tea at lunch and dinner included already in your base fare and you can take a drink “to go”. They promote the SSP as “covers any drinks (excluding champagne) up to $18.00 USD, including premium wines by the glass, cocktails, all house pouring wines, champagnes, beers, liquors, well drinks, mixers/long drinks and soft drinks throughout the day”, but you can also pay for anything on the bar/wine menus ala carte if you don’t have the SSP. If you drink a lot of cocktails, the SSP is probably the best deal. If you are primarily a wine drinker, then not so much in my opinion because I wouldn’t classify the wines available by the glass on the SSP as “premium”. They really should change that wording in their SSP description to “selected”. The wines in the SSP are limited to bottles which Viking lists for $30 (the lowest price on the wine list) or $8 by the glass. So, you’d think if the SSP covers any drink up to $18, then it should include glasses from bottles of wine that sell for around $68 (using the same markup difference between a $30 bottle and $8 glass), but it doesn’t. If you do buy a wine by the bottle and have the SSP, you get a 30% discount. On our Viking River cruise, our experience with the wines available on the SSP by the glass was much better. I’m guessing that is likely due to the inventory management required on the larger ocean versus the river ships, but still…. And my last nit-pick on beverages – there was no ginger beer and Schweppe’s now seems to be the Viking’s mixer supplier instead of Fever Tree which I preferred on prior cruises.

Did we find wines we enjoyed drinking on the SSP by the glass list? Yes, we did, but the selections weren’t as broad as I had hoped. If anything, the SSP is a “convenience” for those who don’t want to have a bill to settle at the end or keep track of as they go making sure charges are correct. I’ll admit, it was nice to get back from a cold excursion in the afternoon and request a coffee with Bailey’s as you walked through the Living Room bar area and not have to go check your account for the charge!    

Food Grade: A

Beverage Grade: B+

Viking Onboard Service

From the moment we entered the cruise terminal in Manhattan for check-in until I got reconnected with my luggage after we disembarked, the service from Viking staff was exceptional, as we expected. It makes it really difficult to fill out the evaluation form which asks you to rate your onboard experiences as “met expectations”, “didn’t met expectations”, or “exceeded expectations”! I hate those choices! As I now come to Viking with high expectations, it is exceedingly difficult for my expectations to be “exceeded”! I wish they’d switch to a 1-10 scale, as pretty much everyone would get a 9-10 from me, instead of just a “met expectations”. I always add a write-in comment that my expectations were high to begin with to justify selecting “met expectations”!

The minor glitches in service that I mentioned in the first couple of days of the cruise seemed to work themselves out and we really couldn’t find fault with the service levels provided overall from either the hotel or dining side, including guest services.  

Also, I need to mention once more the great job done by Viking in arranging the Meet & Mingle for our Cruise Critic Roll Call members with attendance by several executive officers. Throughout the cruise, people thanked me for organizing it, but really all I did was collect the names for Viking to invite!

Finally, as I previously mentioned, you have to be careful what you wish for around Viking staff, even jokingly, because they will bend over backward to make it happen!

Grade: A+

Viking Enrichment and Port Talks

I’ll have to give us a grade of C for not taking as much advantage of these sessions as we should have – especially given that they were available on-demand on our stateroom TV within a few minutes of the conclusion of the sessions! There’s just not enough time in the day to do it all and I admit there were a couple of afternoons when I was working on the blog that we should have had a prior enrichment session playing on the TV, but we didn’t! There was an interesting slate of quality speakers on topics from history to ecology to geopolitical issues to using your iPhone for photos, and more.

The port talks given by the cruise director and excursion director were also very informative. We did attend or watch most of those, especially if we were doing Viking excursions at the port. They weren’t just all about the Viking excursions, but also gave some geographical, cultural, and historical information about the region as well as tips for visiting the area.

I will also mention the ship tours (galley and laundry) we took in this section. Those are not publicized, and you’ll need to inquire at Guest Services if they (or the bridge tour) will be offered. I recommend that you sign up as soon as possible after boarding. Also, if the Resident Historian is explaining the Bayeux Tapestry that is well worth your time in my opinion as now any time I pass a scene in the stairwell, I know what it’s about!

Grade: A

Nordic Spa

Between the four of us, we all had paid for spa treatments which were wonderful, and we used the general spa facilities multiple times. I can see the benefits of having sea days to take advantage of these facilities now! This area was never crowded and may be one of Viking’s best kept “included in your fare” secrets that isn’t a secret, just underutilized – or at least that was our experience on this cruise.  

Grade: A

Viking Sports Deck and Fitness Center

Ok, I must confess – we didn’t use these facilities! Surprise! But lots of people did. The Fitness Center is adjacent to the Nordic Spa on Deck 2, and it frequently had folks working out as we passed by. Also, after 8pm, it is closed to guests and the crew are allowed to use it and they did! There were also always lots of people walking and jogging on the outside of Deck 2 getting their laps in – in all kinds of weather! They were dedicated!

The Sports Deck is on Deck 9, and we did hear the lawn bowlers up there (directly over our stateroom) a couple of days when the weather was nice. It also has shuffleboard, table tennis, a putting course, and a nice lounge area. I took pictures one day when it was in use as we sailed, but never got a chance to post.

Viking Excursions

Our experiences with the Viking included excursions on this cruise as previously noted were hit and miss. The small size of so many of the ports and availability of qualified tour guides at each is a huge factor in this challenging itinerary. Specifically for the Greenland ports, which it appears that many cruise lines in addition to Viking call on, there needs to be a better local map for self-guided tours with more information than was provided.

The two Viking optional tours which we booked at additional cost through Viking were both very good. These were the Great Greenland Furhouse and the Fjallsárlón Ice Lagoon by Zodiac. Both were enriching experiences, the furhouse for learning about the culture of the Inuit and the ice lagoon for learning about the Icelandic geology and seeing such a varied landscape on the drive to and from the lagoon, plus the exhilarating zodiac ride across the ice lagoon! I haven’t been that bundled up since the ice fog game in December 2013 to close Floyd Casey Stadium!    

We appreciated the effort to stop in Sydney after L’Anse aux Meadows had to be cancelled. The local map provided had sufficient detail for an interesting walk around the town to various sites. It’ll be interesting to follow this itinerary next season and see if Viking has any better success in visiting Newfoundland. The adjustments to our account for the cancelled excursions in Seydisfjördur was handled automatically.

Grade: B+

Viking Entertainment – Atrium and Explorer’s Lounge

We all very much enjoyed the musicians who played mainly in the Atrium and the Explorer’s Lounge on a rotating basis. This included the Classical Duo (pianist & violinist), guitarist/singer Laurence, and my personal favorite, Resident Pianist Sasha.

Grade: A+

Viking Entertainment – Star Theater

I saved this category for last in the Viking section because overall it “didn’t meet expectations”. This is a very subjective category as everyone’s perspective is different. But, overall, we didn’t enjoy the foursome comprising the Viking Vocalists – we just didn’t enjoy their voices. The content of the shows was fine, it was just their individual execution. I probably would have enjoyed the cruise director’s and assistant cruise director’s individual shows, but we got out of dinner too late to get seats those evenings. So, it became our preference to go to the Atrium or Explorer’s Lounge for our after-dinner entertainment.

From comments I heard around the ship, the guest entertainers (Paulo and the ventriloquist) also seemed to mostly miss the mark. While I did enjoy Paulo’s first performance (we didn’t attend the second), it seemed that most did not, but then I have a musical background and appreciation for lots of musical styles.  

Grade: C+

Third-Party Tours

I think we had a good mix of Viking included, optional, DIY, and third-party excursions. All our third-party contractors were on time for pickup and got us back to the ship or hotel well within the agreed upon time. Our guides were all very good to excellent in covering so many topics to immerse us in Icelandic geology, history, politics, and culture. We also had good success in our communications with Imagine Iceland when the ship was late arriving to the port. However, I will warn that email communications when trying to originally book with Icelandic tour companies can be a challenge. But when I read The Little Book of Icelanders, I learned that Icelanders are notorious for delayed email replies! So, if I ever go back, I might just have to plan the time difference better to call vendors instead of email with questions!

Grade: A

Our Favorite Things

Viking

• Favorite Breakfast Item: Lamb Chops in The Restaurant (Nancy, David, Keith), 2 kinds of bacon (David), smoked salmon (Paula)
• Favorite Appetizer: Calamari in Manfredi’s (Nancy, David, Paula), ravioli in Manfredi’s (Keith), Crab cake in Chef’s Table California Cuisine (Paula)
• Favorite Main: Seared Halibut in Chef’s Table California Cuisine (Nancy), Ribeye Steak in The Restaurant and Manfredi’s (David, Keith), Pork Chop in Manfredi’s (David), Sea Bass in The Restaurant (Paula)
• Favorite Dessert: Chocolate Soufflé (Nancy, David, Paula), Cherries Jubilee (Keith), Grand Marnier Soufflé (surprise runner-up for Nancy!)
• Favorite Pool Grill Item: Viking Burger (Nancy, Keith), Pancho Villa Burger w/Onion Rings (David, Paula)
• Favorite Onboard Experiences: Galley and Laundry Tours
• Favorite Included Excursion: Heimaey on Foot – we had a great guide in Trusty, and this tour was excellent for its exposure to the 1973 eruption and the overall history of the Westman Islands.
• Favorite Optional Excursion: Fjallsárlón Ice Lagoon – long bus ride, but beautiful landscapes and a unique experience. Our guide on the bus was very good with a plethora of information as well.

Non-Viking

• Favorite 3^rd Party Excursion (on cruise): Private tour with Garry – Peggy’s Cove to Lunenburg Shore Excursion from Halifax. We all agreed that Garry’s love of sharing the history of Nova Scotia and its iconic sites set the bar high for the rest of the trip!
• Favorite Excursion from Reykjavik: South Coast Day Tour – the rainbows at the waterfalls, the black glacier, and the basalt columns at Reynisfjara were the highlights and made this the overall favorite between the SC and GC for us.

Golden Circle Tour – the highlight of the GC to us was Þingvellir National Park due to its historical and geological significance. Gullfoss was spectacular due to its size, but going there pushes the time required for the GC to its maximum. Also, if you’ve been to Yellowstone, the Geysir area (while historic) is anti-climactic.

If you only have two days in Reykjavik, I’d recommend a half-day to Þingvellir National Park with a half-day in Reykjavik and then do a full-day South Coast tour.  

Conclusion

This was an absolutely fascinating trip with a taste of Canada’s eastern provinces, southern Greenland, and most of Iceland. The only areas that we didn’t get to sample were the eastern interior due to our Snow Day which cancelled our excursions in that direction and the Snæfellsnes (Snow Mount’s Peninsula) located between Reykjavik and the Westfjords.

A common question to those who cruise to see Iceland is: do they wish they’d done a land tour of the famous Ring Road to see Iceland instead of a cruise? For me, maybe ten years ago I’d have said yes, but for where we are today in our lives, I’m more than satisfied with our cruise, plus the additional days in Reykjavik for our Icelandic experience.  

While we were playing our final game of cards in Reykjavik on our last day, I asked everyone what they would take away from our trip.

• Paula – came into the trip with no idea of what to expect from Iceland and was leaving feeling like she has an understanding now of the diversity of Iceland’s geology and history.
• Keith – was impressed with the heroics of the people of Heimaey during the 1973 eruption and its early history.
• Dave – will remember the Halifax and Heimaey excursions due to the great guides we had in both locations who shared such personal anecdotes and interesting information.
• Nancy – gained appreciation for the struggle, determination, and gratitude of the peoples who settled and still live in the remote and harsh, yet beautiful, landscapes we witnessed.

Travel makes one modest: one sees what a tiny place one occupies in the world.

Gustave Flaubert